Judging Judges: A Study of U.S. Federal District Court Judges in the 10th Circuit
This paper examines the demographics of federal district court judges in the 10th Circuit. Consistent with the glass-ceiling effect literature in positions of power and influence in the legal profession, the study finds that women judges are under-represented on the 10th Circuit bench compared with...
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Oñati International Institute for the Sociology of Law
2017-12-01
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| Series: | Oñati Socio-Legal Series |
| Online Access: | https://opo.iisj.net/index.php/osls/article/view/875 |
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This paper examines the demographics of federal district court judges in the 10th Circuit. Consistent with the glass-ceiling effect literature in positions of power and influence in the legal profession, the study finds that women judges are under-represented on the 10th Circuit bench compared with their numbers as lawyers in the jurisdictions of the Circuit. However, the study finds that minority judges are over-represented in the Circuit. The paper next explores the relationship between under-representation, over-representation and discrimination. Under-representation that cannot be explained in terms of merit criteria or informed opting out, such as the under-representation of women on the 10th Circuit, strongly suggests the lingering effects of past exclusion and discrimination, as well as the current effects of implicit bias. As demonstrated by the over-representation of minority judges, the political commission process can break through the gender glass-ceiling by over-representing qualified women judges in the short run until their overall numbers better reflect equality.
Este artículo examina la demografía de los jueces federales de tribunales de distrito del 10º Circuito. Corroborando la literatura sobre el efecto del techo de cristal en posiciones de poder e influencia en la profesión jurídica, el estudio descubre que las juezas están infrarrepresentadas en el 10º Circuito en comparación con el número de abogadas en las jurisdicciones del Circuito. Sin embargo, el estudio descubre que los jueces de grupos sociales minoritarios están sobrerrepresentados en el Circuito. A continuación, el artículo explora la relación entre la infrarrepresentación, la sobrerrepresentación y la discriminación. La infrarrepresentación que no puede ser explicada en términos de criterios de mérito o de la renuncia informada, como es el caso de la infrarrepresentación de mujeres en el 10º Circuito, apoya fuertemente la idea de que persisten los efectos de la exclusión y de la discriminación del pasado, así como los efectos actuales de la parcialidad implícita. Como queda demostrado por la sobrerrepresentación de jueces de minorías, el proceso de comisión política puede romper el techo de cristal por razones de sexo, y lo puede hacer mediante la sobrerrepresentación a corto plazo de juezas cualificadas hasta que las cifras generales reflejen mejor la igualdad.
DOWNLOAD THIS PAPER FROM SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3035256
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| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-8a276cd3c86e47c68c4f7846e7a17d70 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2079-5971 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2017-12-01 |
| publisher | Oñati International Institute for the Sociology of Law |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Oñati Socio-Legal Series |
| spelling | doaj-art-8a276cd3c86e47c68c4f7846e7a17d702024-11-25T15:43:16ZengOñati International Institute for the Sociology of LawOñati Socio-Legal Series2079-59712017-12-0174795Judging Judges: A Study of U.S. Federal District Court Judges in the 10th CircuitEli Wald0University of Denver, Sturm College of Law This paper examines the demographics of federal district court judges in the 10th Circuit. Consistent with the glass-ceiling effect literature in positions of power and influence in the legal profession, the study finds that women judges are under-represented on the 10th Circuit bench compared with their numbers as lawyers in the jurisdictions of the Circuit. However, the study finds that minority judges are over-represented in the Circuit. The paper next explores the relationship between under-representation, over-representation and discrimination. Under-representation that cannot be explained in terms of merit criteria or informed opting out, such as the under-representation of women on the 10th Circuit, strongly suggests the lingering effects of past exclusion and discrimination, as well as the current effects of implicit bias. As demonstrated by the over-representation of minority judges, the political commission process can break through the gender glass-ceiling by over-representing qualified women judges in the short run until their overall numbers better reflect equality. Este artículo examina la demografía de los jueces federales de tribunales de distrito del 10º Circuito. Corroborando la literatura sobre el efecto del techo de cristal en posiciones de poder e influencia en la profesión jurídica, el estudio descubre que las juezas están infrarrepresentadas en el 10º Circuito en comparación con el número de abogadas en las jurisdicciones del Circuito. Sin embargo, el estudio descubre que los jueces de grupos sociales minoritarios están sobrerrepresentados en el Circuito. A continuación, el artículo explora la relación entre la infrarrepresentación, la sobrerrepresentación y la discriminación. La infrarrepresentación que no puede ser explicada en términos de criterios de mérito o de la renuncia informada, como es el caso de la infrarrepresentación de mujeres en el 10º Circuito, apoya fuertemente la idea de que persisten los efectos de la exclusión y de la discriminación del pasado, así como los efectos actuales de la parcialidad implícita. Como queda demostrado por la sobrerrepresentación de jueces de minorías, el proceso de comisión política puede romper el techo de cristal por razones de sexo, y lo puede hacer mediante la sobrerrepresentación a corto plazo de juezas cualificadas hasta que las cifras generales reflejen mejor la igualdad. DOWNLOAD THIS PAPER FROM SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3035256 https://opo.iisj.net/index.php/osls/article/view/875 |
| spellingShingle | Eli Wald Judging Judges: A Study of U.S. Federal District Court Judges in the 10th Circuit Oñati Socio-Legal Series |
| title | Judging Judges: A Study of U.S. Federal District Court Judges in the 10th Circuit |
| title_full | Judging Judges: A Study of U.S. Federal District Court Judges in the 10th Circuit |
| title_fullStr | Judging Judges: A Study of U.S. Federal District Court Judges in the 10th Circuit |
| title_full_unstemmed | Judging Judges: A Study of U.S. Federal District Court Judges in the 10th Circuit |
| title_short | Judging Judges: A Study of U.S. Federal District Court Judges in the 10th Circuit |
| title_sort | judging judges a study of u s federal district court judges in the 10th circuit |
| url | https://opo.iisj.net/index.php/osls/article/view/875 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT eliwald judgingjudgesastudyofusfederaldistrictcourtjudgesinthe10thcircuit |